By Elizabeth Knoll
1991 US National Professional International Standard Champion
Finalist in all major American Style Smooth Championships

Floorcraft is…sanding and re-finishing your hardwoods? Yes, obviously, but for us dancers it is much more. As all of us know, sometimes things can get a little crowded out on the dance floor, whether it’s at a competition or a social occasion. Floor craft is the ability to negotiate the dance floor with a minimum number of incidents; it is also the ability to stay out of trouble, not just to extricate yourself from a squash.

As I started writing this article, knowing that there are many parts to floorcraft, it escalated from general comments to a huge multi-part series! This first installment will deal with some overall concepts and touch on floorcraft for the social dancer. The successive articles will address competition floorcraft, the lady’s role in floorcraft, and conclude with floor etiquette, floorcraft violations and how to deal with them plus a few final tips for everyone.

How do you start to work on floorcraft? First is to remember that if you GIVE respect and space, you GET respect and space. That is a lovely reminder for all of us in real life, too! The best floorcraft analogy is driving. We will refer to this often for examples.

As a general rule, you want to try to give yourself a cushion of space around you of approximately 5 feet. That sounds like a lot, and it is, but if you PLAN for that much space, then you have a little “wiggle” room if you need it. Think of driving in the rain: don’t you need to make sure you have a little more space all around you for safety?

WATCH for traffic. This doesn’t just mean knowing where everyone IS. It means being able to extrapolate other couples’ trajectories so you know where they WILL BE. All fine if someone is in the corner and you cut in front of them. But remember they are moving too, and might be moving faster than you. You’ve just now made yourself into an obstacle, they will crash into you, and it’ll be YOUR fault because you put yourself there. If you happen to know that person, and know he’ll be in the corner for a while, then it’s OK, but that means BEING AWARE!!!!! Don’t just go around the floor running through your routine like the dance police are after you if you don’t do every step as written by your teacher! Share the floor, share the space and you will have more fun.

In watching for traffic, remember that you have a 360-degree view. That does NOT mean you can flip your head around like an owl! That means that when you are in dance position, head up and slightly to the left, you have about 180 degrees of vision, minus a tiny blind spot behind your partner’s head. Two people, 180 x 2 = 360. That means that BOTH partners must be responsible for watching. Ladies (and we will address your responsibilities in greater depth later), you must not blindly follow. Follow, yes, and go where the man leads you, but do be aware of situations that are all around you, just as the man is.

Plan to have some “escape” steps that you use on a regular basis to get out of trouble. Here is where a few private lessons with an experienced teacher can help you tremendously. (My favorite plug: “private lessons are available!” Please ask your teacher for help.) Two or three steps are a lot better than just freestyling whatever strikes your fancy in the moment. Ladies need a little consistency from you (oops, another life lesson!).

Now on to social floorcraft and some specific situations: who is in charge? The man, of course. Gentlemen, make sure you know where you are going….that means LOOK. (Ladies, you too!) Make sure you are comfortable with the abilities of the lady with whom you’ve chosen to dance. Don’t throw a beginning level lady into a situation where she will be needed to help “steer” the partnership. Keep your dancing shenanigans to a minimum (actually, that’s good advice even if you are dancing with an advanced lady….I hate having an entire repertoire thrown at me when I’m just out to social dance and have fun.). And at the risk of repeating myself repeatedly, watch where you are going.

Much of social floorcraft sounds more like etiquette, and it is. How do you get to the dance floor? Letting the lady wind her way through the tables first? No, you are the leader, so lead the way to the floor. It is also appropriate for you to enter the floor first, just as you would enter the street first to “protect” the lady from on coming traffic. And NEVER WALK BACKWARDS ON THE DANCE FLOOR!!!! This leads to grief on the social dance floor, at competitions, in the studio. DON’T DO IT!

What about Sadie Hawkins? What if a lady asks you to dance? Does that mean she’s in charge? NO. As soon s she asks you to dance her responsibility ends and yours begins.

One final note on social dance floorcraft. You are there to dance and have fun. Chatting should be strictly social. Don’t teach (or expect to be taught if you are dancing with a professional….we want some time off, too!). If you have been deliberately asked to teach or ask some to teach you, go off into a corner. Don’t do it out on the floor where you are now an obstacle.

Go out and dance, have fun, and watch where you are going. Look both ways before entering the traffic, share the space, and give respect to get respect (what was that book? Everything I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten?).